good morning, sunshine! yes, i said that to you. morning, i'm robin meade. appreciate your time today. on monday, here's what's going on. first, there is a major development in the case of a missing 5-year-old girl. investigators now believe that her mother has something to do with her disappearance. a college football player is speaking for the first time since his neck was crushed. why the words that he said have a special significance. >> you don't go to a funeral and go, oops, there's no body. you don't do that. you heard right, a veteran's ashes disappeared right before his funeral. how it happened and what the

family is doing about it. first, the search is resuming this morning for a missing 5-year-old north carolina girl after police got a tip yesterday. her mother is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. now, we're not showing the little girl's picture because she may be the victim of a sex crime. the man who police say was carrying her into a hotel turned himself in. now, authorities say he admits taking her but says that he doesn't know where she is. he plans to plead not guilty. now, when that man turned himself in police dropped the kidnapping charges against this man. he is the mother's boyfriend and he said he was at home when the girl was taken. president obama is in beijing right now, part of his eight-day trip to asia and meeting with china president hujintao. he pushed for greater freedoms in china. >> i see china's future in you.

young people whose talent and dedication and dreams will do so much to help shape the 21st century. i said many times that i believe that our world is now fundamentally interconnected. the jobs we do, the prosperity we build and the environment we protect and the security that we seek all of these things are shared. >> president obama will also visit china's great wall today. the fbi used equipment like ground penetrating radar at that house in cleveland where 11 bodies were found. we could see more digging this week at anthony sowell's house and store. the search also has expanded four houses down. >> they found bones about this long. they come running in the house bringing them in the house with their bare hands talking about,

look what we found. >> police aren't say figure they actually found anything. but anthony sowell's attorney hasn't commented about the murder charges. a passenger plane hit a flock of birds right after takeoff this weekend. the frontier airlines jet hit them at about 4,000 feet above kansas city on saturday. an airport spokesperson said the birds hit both engines and one of them lost power. listen to this passenger. >> heard this rumble, bang, bang. and then saw kind of like a flash and then you saw smoke and then, you know, we started decreasing in altitude. >> yikes! the plane landed safely, i know you remember that a bird strike forced another plane to land in the hudson river back in january. a college football player spoke for the first time since his neck was crushed in a weight lifting accident and rafer has more on this story. good morning. >> good morning to you, robin. seven words, that is all usc

runningback johnson was able to get and that is a miracle. he greeted his teammates last month after he dropped a 270 pound weight bar on his throat crushing his larynx and he could not breathe them but he was breathing and eating through a tube. he could swallow now and repeated the last words spoken by his late grandfather. >> god has a plan. run, stephon, run. >> it is still unclear, though, if and when he will return to football. when asked about it, he just shrugged. >> the seven words that he did say, wow, such significance for sure. >> i hope he does come back. the families of 9/11 victims are reacting to a big decision by the obama administration. the self-proclaimed mastermind behind terror attack in u.s. history will be tried in a civilian courtroom just blocks

from ground zero. it is igniting a fierce debate. >> you bring it back here for me, my feelings. it's tasteless, it's insensitive and those scars, which have never been healed, will just be open again. i am not comfortable with this call. >> i think new yorkers are certainly more than capable of handling it and i think, again, it speaks to the very heart of woo we are, not only as new yorkers, but as american citizens. you know, if a crime is committed on our soil, you are going to be given a trial. you will be given access to an attorney and you will be innocent until proven guilty. will illinois be the new guantanamo? a task force will visit a nea y ly empty prison in thompson, illinois. it could be the new home for suspected terrorists. correspondent richard lui will have more on that in 25 minutes. the space shuttle "atlantis"

should be on its way to the international space station later this afternoon. nasa plans to launch it from the kennedy space center at 2:28 eastern. 100 shuttle fans will get to see the launch close up so they can tweet about it. they're expected to reach about 150,000 twitter followers. you know what's interesting is that we're hours away and if you can listen in, they're talking already. >> well, we have several places -- >> what if it were your job to do all that time fill? >> let's see, what, five hours? >> and then i was born on -- >> my favorite color is blue. >> meteorologist bob van dillen. what are our weather headlines for this week, you think? >> we have a major storm now shaping up across the middle of the country. we're talking about a dynamic one, too. one at the surface, right around northern arkansas and the second one, the main player, the real energy maker is right across

northern parts of kansas and this is only going to drift northward over the next couple days and basically be here through the workweek. let me show you what is underneath the clouds. rain and thunderstorms driving down towards louisiana and lower arkansas, too. so far none of these have been severe over the last couple hours and you can see the radar sweep as it goes on by. this line making progress eastward and right over the city and tough morning commute no matter what. up to the rth no, heavy rain across northern louisiana and that stretches in towards lower arkansas and on the way in towards western tennessee and memphis you're still dry but radar picking up the heavy rain just over the river and that moves in for you later today but the heavier rain today central missouri and illinois, one to two inches of rain is what you'll find. cold pocket of air circulating around and condensing to snow around the nebraska/kansas state line and we'll see the winter weather there. four to ten inches of snow piles

up and areas shaded in red. yeah, big-time system out there and one for the pacific northwest. get to that coming up in a little bit. >> snow! all right, thank you. one of your fellow morning viewers is stephen king whose new book, by the way, is at the top of the charts. he stopped by to talk about "under the dome" and we asked him about other stuff, too. you are so up on current events what news story have you seen lately that you think this is a suspense, horror, thriller in the making in real life? now you can be funny with your answer or serious with your answer. >> there are always advances in the science field that would make for good horror stories. the swine flu that's going on now. i kind of did my flu book with "the stand" a few years ago. >> if you can't wait to see more of the interview, you can go watch it at cnn.com/robin.

in the next half hour, i ask him about some of the questions that he's always asked or the ones that he never wanted asked. but the book is called "under the dome." lately ly owning a home is losing investment. an affair with another man ended james mcgreevey's career as a new jersey governor but he may have a new calling as a man of the cloth.

the decision to try five of the 9/11 suspects in a court in new york has created quite a heated debate in washington. democrats, for instance, are backing up the president's decision. they say the trial will show the

world how effective and fair the u.s. judicial system is, but republicans say it will give undeserved rights to people like khalid shaikh mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind 9/11. >> if somebody murders americans and they murder americans in america, they ought to be prosecuted in america and hopefully convicted in america. >> we shouldn't close guantanamo for the purposes of these types of terrorists. basically, we're dealing here with people who have committed acts of war against us. they shouldn't be tried in our criminal justice system, they should be tried in our military justice system. it's absolutely inexcusable to try these people. that's why we have such a system. >> critics are also concerned about security. rudy giuliani who was new york's mayor on 9/11 said holding the troil there would cost too much and put unnecessary stress on police. >> anyone that tells you that this doesn't create additional security problems, of course,

isn't telling you the truth. the best indication of it is look at the additional security employed when this happens. that also happens to cost millions and millions of dollars. all of which will be worth it if there were no other choice. >> critics say a public trial would force prosecutors to reveal sensitive information about u.s. intelligence that al qaeda and other terrorist groups could potentially use to their advantage. supporters counter that dozens of terror suspects were tried in civilian courts. now over to bob van dillen and your travel updates. is it going to beies easy? >> one major storm. but keep in mind, richard, it is in the early side. let me show you sabre flight explorer. rain stretching in towards the lower parts of illinois and indiana, too. the winds will pick up as that low pressure tightens up and moves your way.

here's what we're calling for delay wise. new york city metros dallas gusty winds for you, too. same with houston and seattle. seattle a lot of rain there and 30 minutes to one-hour delays possible. more rain towards st. louis and memphis and full details on weather coming up, robin, in just a little while. >> thank you. jennifer is off today, she'll get a break today. gm says it will start paying back more than $6 billion by the end of this year. that will be much earlier than expected. stronger than expected sales are the reason. the government, though, will still own a majority stake in the company. if you want to sell your home, next year, that might be the time. the national association of realtors says that home prices are expected to rise about 4%. let's call that good news in a bad economy. the group says that the extension of the home buyer's tax credit should continue to boost sales. the prices this year are projected to drop 13%.

it's time right now to salute our troops. wendy sent a salute in for her dad. she wants him to know how much they appreciate all he's done for them and the country. >> hi, robin, we want to leave a message for our dad thanking him for being so brave in world war ii when he was captured at age 20 and we want to thank him for his contribution to all the freedoms we enjoy in this great country and we just want to tell him that we are so proud of him and that we love him. >> great vintage pictures of him, too. if you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them go to cnn.com/robin. the coach of the patriots may have made one of the worst moves of his career. this morning that call that nobody can understand. also, you're not going to believe how much people were willing to spend to get a piece of history, even if it had bernie madoff's name blazoned all over it.

some of the victims of the ft. hood shootings. one was held in san diego for captain john gaffaney. major nidal hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the ft. hood shootings. remember the mayor who confronted a man with a metal bar he was defending a woman at a state fair. milwaukee mayor tom barrett is running for the governor of wisconsin now. the democrat delayed the decision until he recovered from the attack. >> less than three months ago i stood here with my family to thank the citizens of milwaukee and people from all over wisconsin for their heart felt and genuine well wishes and support in the aftermath of the incident that took place outside state fair. at that point in time, i was not thinking about running for

governor, i was hurt. i had to heal and get my strength back. >> his hands and his head were injured in the attack and he had ten pins in his hand. doctors removed the last two pins on friday. some couples said i do this weekend for only 80 bucks apiece. an atlanta wedding planner came up with a wed-a-thon. brides and grooms paying $40 each. the price tag covered everything from flowers to cake and reception. the money will help atlanta's children shelter. great idea. wish more people would do that. a marquise matchup between peyton manning and tom brady came down to a couture's controversial call and now people are saying what is wrong with bill belichick. >> good morning to you, robin. it is being debated this call. boston newspapers are attacking the decision, but, nifirst, in e game, some real fireworks after the colts scored.

this is what has people, this is the call that has people fuming is what i'm trying to say. patriots fourth and two and they are up six and they do not make it. indy gets the ball back and with 13 seconds left peyton manning does what he does. colts win a thriller, 9-0. chargers runningback ladainian tomlinson he found a little box in the locker room from his wife. in it a pregnancy test stick that read positive. l.t. and his wife have been trying to conceive for a while and she knew she was pregnant on tuesday but kept it a surprise and then he went on to have the best game of the season scoring two touchdowns. jimmie johnson is on the verge of making history. he dominated in phoenix to win again and one race away from becoming the first driver to take the sprint couple title and he now leads his teammates and

all he hawse to do is finish 25th or better to do better. we have a little wackiness for you. at a memphis grizzlies game at a time-out they bring a guy from the stands and say you're going to jump rope blindfolded. he thinks he is jumping rope and getting into it and then, watch this, after they tell him to stop he takes off the blindfold and he figures it out and look at the guy's reaction and he is mad. >> i don't blame him. he is upset. >> there was no prize. >> no prize, nothing. >> not even applause. >> the crowd, come on, guys, give him something. one lady gives him applause. there you go. >> golly. i would be ticked, too. give me a prize for my humiliation. if you have a teenage daughter or you're a "twilight" fan yourself, be prepared for scenes like this one. people camped tout see premiere

of "new moon." the second movie in the red hot vampire series shattered a record with advance ticket sales and opens nationwide on friday. the ashes of a military vet were stolen right before he was supposed to be buried and then his anguished family had a big decision to make.

the mother of a missing 5-year-old north carolina girl shaniya davis is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. now, we're showing the little girl's picture hopefully to help find her. people are starting to search again for shaniya this morning. police in fayetteville says a man seen with the child in a hotel admits taking her but says he doesn't know where she is. six people were killed in a suicide attack at a police station. it is the sixth attack in this area of pakistan in about a week. taliban leaders claim responsibility for most of those, but they're denying being involved in some of the

deadliest attacks against civilians. the space shuttle "atlantis" is scheduled for launch in a few hours. it is taking key parts to keep the international space station going. live pictures, by the way. nasa will have 100 people watching the launch in florida and tweeting about it. they're expected to reach 150,000 twitter followers. is it just me or kind of cloudy looking there? those are some of the headlines we're following there this morning. morning sunshine, i'm robin meade. today, federal officials will tour an illinois prison that could house dozens of detainees from guantanamo bay. thompson correctional center is about 150 miles west of chicago. the town has a population of 160. >> they are concerned about what everybody is concerned about jobs. 600 people there. the prison sat hospital for five years, in fact, because the state didn't have enough

resources to open it. it's still almost empty right now but state officials say this plan could pump $1 billion into the area and create up to 2,000 jobs. >> got this big expensive building sitting over there empty or practically. put some people to work. that's what they need here. >> we need jobs in our area. >> very depressed. both economically and emotionally. people are looking for these jobs. >> well, the village mayor estimates the move, robin, would cut the county's unemployment by half. >> the jobs a plus it looks like. what about security? these are terror suspects housed in your community. >> big concern, robin. one republican congressman is circulating an opposition letter addressed to president obama and it says in it, we should not invite al qaeda to make illinois

its number one target. senator dick durbin took issue with that pointing out that dozens of terrorists are already in illinois prisons. take a listen. >> there are currently 35 people serving in the prisons of illinois convicted of terrorism. we also have people who are part of columbian drug gangs, mexican drug cartels and the toughest, meanest, dirtiest gangs in chicago. they're all held in our prisons and all held safely. >> it would enhance security at the prison at thompson to exceed super max standards and no one has escaped from a super max facility. >> good to note there. different views on abortion are rattling the health care form debate. a white house aide suggests that president obama may support a provision in the house bill that would change the restrictions for federal funding for abortions. >> well, the president has said repeatedly and he said in his speech to congress that he doesn't believe that this bill should change the status quo as it relates to the issue of

abortion. this shouldn't be a debate about abortion and he's going to work with the senate and the house to try to ensure that at the end of the day the status quo is not changed. >> he refused to say whether president obama would veto a final health care bill that restricts abortion funding. house dems were split on the controversial amendment. falling no created an unbelievable scene at the funeral for one of the ft. hood shooting victims. family and friends of private first class aaron huddled to say farewell. he was only 19. his family says he was planning to propose to his girlfriend next month before being deployed to afghanistan. twitter is getting rid of their hand-picked list of suggested users. this comes after political

watchdogs in california criticized the list claiming that it flavored democrats over republicans. twitter says it plans on a more systematic way to produce popular posters. right now there are about 54 million people who use that website. i need to get me some of them. all right. all right. i haven't twittered yet. count secretary of state hillary clinton out of the running. this weekend she once again rejected claims that she's planning a campaign. she's committed to her current position. >> no, no. that's another one of those stories that never will die and i hope maybe we can put it to rest today. no, i am committed to the job that i have, it is an extraordinarily important time to be the secretary of state of my country and to work with president obama in trying to, you know, pursue our interests

and advance our values around the world and that's what i'm going to continue doing. >> former new york mayor rudy giuliani will decide soon if he will run for the governor's seat. 35 minutes past the hour. i don't know if bob and i would have exciting twitters or not, tweets i should say or not. >> 8:00 p.m., time to go to bed. going to pick up my son from kindergarten. yea. my daughter, going to pick her up from day care. two followers. my mom and my wife. this weather brought to you by tylenol. feel bet. big picture for you today. same thing tomorrow, too. upper level low right over kansas and here's your snow underneath that and developing low pressure region right around arkansas and that's at the surface and ahead of the cold front, it's a little on the unsettled side. look at that line of thunderstorms developing around louisiana and arkansas and back

into almost houston right now. here is your radar right around the city and line of thunderstorms not severe but the rain is out there and occasional flash of lightning. once it clears on by, windy day for you. rain showers you could see them right around northern louisiana and stretch back into arkansas and slowly moving in towards the memphis metro area and tough morning commute and same with you guys when you get towards st. louis and rain heavy at times, as well. looking at one to two inches of rain for those guys. underneath that developing upper level low and this will basically drip to the north over the next cup dal is. heavy snow. lower parts of nebraska were calling for as much as four to ten inches of snow and the rest of the region, two to four inches of snow today tapers off overnight tonight and a lot of snow in the next couple hours. how much would you pay for a piece of bernie madoff? bob, don't answer.

auctioneneers got the price for this jacket and then the bids went higher and higher and higher.

the las vegas strippers who were dancing on a pole on the strip stopped their acts. lots of complaints after the strip club started using the women like live promotion. hello, look at us. some local officials said they thought it was tacky and might pea dangerous. the club owner said it was great for the businessman. police in china reportedly detained dozens of activists as president obama arrived today. that's what family members and friends tell the ap. mr. obama arrived a few hours ago. he held the town hall meeting in shanghai earlier.

>> we do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation. but we also don't believe that the principals that we stand for are unique to our nation. these freedoms of expression and worship of access to information and political participation we believe are universal rights. >> china regularly cracks down on its religious and ethnic minorities and sensors the internet. the bernie madoff auction brought in more than $900,000 for victims of his ponzi scheme. the mets jacket with his name blazoned across the back sold for more than $14,00020 times what it was expected. one buyer explained her fascination with the stuff. >> it's like getting a plate of china from the titanic and bernie madoff may have been an even bigger ship wreck. >> just about everything is up

for auction or everything that was up for auction sold far more than the auctioneers. i know that makes those gold parties that you see even more popular. the stocks are set to open higher this morning, good news is expected when the october retail sales data comes out about an hour from now. the sales probably rose by about 1% after a drop in the previous month. now, it's important because the sooner consumers start spending, the sooner that the economy will then recover. the dow begins the day at 10270 after a 73-point gain on friday. okay, las vegas hotel casinos are really offering big bargains trying to lure you back. the vegas visitor's bureau tells "usa today" that the rates are down 25% from a year ago and says that hotels owned by station casinos, you can pay $125 for two nights and get $100

for food and drinks. some of the rooms at the mirage, they go for 86 bucks. 69 bucks at treasure island. 105 undergrads were arrested for allegedly drinking at a college house party. police in new london, new hampshire, said they were at their station friday night and they heard the yelling and cheering just down the road. >> once i got out of my cruiser and walked up i could see numerous people walking with backpacks and 12 packs of beer. as i walked up to the front door we had the typical, oh, my god, the police are here. >> half the students were held, though, until they could be released to their parents. a new book by stephen king called "under the dome" is one of the best-selling books on amazon.com. he dropped by the show to talk about his book and i asked him a few other questions, as well. >> i could think of a lot of questions i would never like to be asked again. one was, what were you like as a child because everybody has the

idea that you were pretty twisted. >> you were a creepy kid. >> i like it when people talk about the language and writing and theme and stuff like that and a lot of times they don't. >> well, if you can't wait to see the interview, you can watch it right now at cnn.com/robin. like how in the world did he come up with this, people tr trapped under a dome. new details on the ft. hood shooter. a million dollar sports car was no match for a pelican.

there are brand-new details this morning on the alleged ft. hood shooter. a yemeni cleric tells "the washington post" that he did not order or pressure major nidal hasan to hurt americans. the cleric says that he saw hasan's growing discomfort with the u.s. military in the e-mails they exchanged. hasan is accused of shooting and killing 13 people at ft. hood. he is still in the hospital. former new jersey governor

jim mcgreevey is training to become an episcopal priest. remember his 2004 confession revealing his affair with a man, well it ended his marriage and his political career. well, mcgreevey tells wcvs that it could be inappropriate to comment about it right now but that his spiritual journey is going well. it might be a good thing that bob's not up right now to talk. a dog so disabled that it moved on its wrists has learned to walk. a georgia vet operated on spirit and gave her months of therapy after somebody dumped her on the side of the wrong. what is wrong with people. her new owner says she's doing fine. >> i don't want people to feel pity. what i want people to feel is, look what can happen to a dog that people thought was useless. she's definitely not useless any

more. >> look at her, she's just a love bug. she still has some discomfort when she walks but it does not stop her from playing and wagging that tail. a guy in texas that wrecked his $1.7 million bugotti says a bird distracted him and he dumped it in a salt marsh and then, again, it might be hard to handle. it is the fastest street legal car you can buy. goes 250 miles per hour and has 1,000 horsepower. the owner says he doesn't know if it can be saved or salvaged. >> you have to try to salvage it. >> what is it that makes that thing a million dollars. >> 250 miles an hour. >> it's not even that pretty. >> oh, well. i think so. definitely not there it isn't. >> maybe that was the problem. all right, thanks. an nfl owner is caught on video making an obscene gesture during his team's win. here's rafer with more on the video.

>> yeah. this man is -- >> what was he thinking? >> you know what, robin, this guy is a colorful character. bud adams who owns the tennessee titans. there is no mistaking the double flighted animal during their win over buffalo. a fan caught him doing this on their iphone and posted it on youtube and that's an 86-year-old man. >> what's the saying, after the age of 75 you get a pass. >> he's a rich man. he was gesturing to the bills' bench and, get this, was sitting with nfl commissioner roger goodell for part of this game. a controversial call in the patriots/colts game has some talking that water cooler. the pats were up by six with two minutes left and go for it on fourth and two and they don't get it. so that means the colts get the ball back. what a gamble that was for head coach bill belichick. what did they do? the colts come down and tie it with 13 seconds left and peyton

manning with the td pass and kick the extra point for the win. another call people are talk about today. jaguars were down by one to the jets. jones-drew is about to run it in what? well, they ran -- he wanted to run out the clock so new york could not come back. they didn't have any time outs left. they killed a field goal as time expired. he later apologized to his owners. 40-year-old brett favre continues to shut critics' mouths including mine for criticizing his return. torched the detroit lions. every time brett favre does well we will put it on the air, people. okay? we can admit when we're wrong. matthew stafford who was 3 years old when played his first game was meaade to look like a rooki >> apparently we're having

technical difficulties. this is the home depot center. soccer star david beckham's team won. reports are a failure in the southern california power grid caused it? >> what's up with beckham's hair? >> that's another question all together. that's sports. >> okay, bobbie. maybe we'll get to bruce springsteen later. how are our travelers going to fair today? >> pretty well. if you live down the deep southeast or maybe west coast. chicago, wind is going to start picking up. an hour or more delay in both midway and o'hare a possibility. also windy around new york city metro. half hour to hour delay on top of the average volume delays you get on monday. dallas more wind. seattle, looking at wind related delays, too. winds gusting near 45 miles per

hour by seattle. we'll talk about that in a little bit. >> thank you. we'll try to get in the bruce springsteen story. must be mortified after what he did. the search for a missing 5-year-old girl takes a startling turn. why police have arrested her own mother. @@@@@@@@@@@@@

good morning, sunshine! i'm robin meade. and how did it get to be monday so fast? here's what's going on. there's a disturbing twist in the search for a missing 5-year-old girl. investigators now believe that her mother has something to do with her disappearance. plus, what passengers experienced inside a plane after it hit a flock of birds? and then -- >> you don't go to a funeral and go, oops, there's no body. you know, you don't do that. >> you heard right. a veterans ashes disappeared right before his funeral. how it happened and what his family is doing about that.

first, the search is resuming this morning for a missing 5-year-old north carolina girl after police got a tip yesterday. her mother is charged with huchlhuchman trafficking and child abuse. the man seen carrying her into a hotel turned himself in. authorities say he admits taking her but says he doesn't know where she is. he plans to plead not guilty. when that man turned himself in, police dropped kidnapping charges against this man. he is the mother's boyfriend. he says he was at home when the girl was taken. the families of the 9/11 victims are reacting to a big decision by the obama administration last week. the self-proclaimed master mind behind the deadliest terror attack in u.s. history and four other suspects will be tried in a civilian courtroom blocks from ground zero. for the victims' families, it is reopening painful wounds and igniting a fierce debate.

>> to bring it back here, to me, my feelings, it's tasteless. it's insensitive. and those scars which have never been healed are just going to be opened again. so i am not comfortable one iota with this call. >> new yorkers are certainly more than capable of handling it. i think, again, it speaks to the very heart of who we are not only as new yorkers but as american citizens. if a crime is committed on our soil, you are going to be given a trial. you will be given access to an attorney. you will be innocent until proven guilty. >> will illinois be the new guantanamo, meanwhile? happening today, a government task force is going to visit a nearly empty prison in thomson, illinois. that town about two hours west of chicago could be the new home for suspected terrorists. correspondent richard lui will have more on that in about 25 minutes. president obama is in beijing right now as part of his eight-day trip to asia. he's scheduled to meet with

china's president hu jintao. earlier president obama held a town hall meeting with college students in shanghai and he pushed for greater freedoms in china. >> we do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation. but we also don't believe that the principles that we stand for are unique to our nation. these freedoms of expression and worship, of access to information and political participation we believe are universal rights. they should be available to all people. including ethnic and religious minorities. whether they are in the united states, china, or any nation. >> president obama will also visit china's great wall today. a college football player spoke for the first time since his neck was crushed in a weightlifting accident. rafer weigel has more on that. >> good morning. seven words. that is all usc runningback

stafon johnson was able to get out. eve than is a miracle. this was johnson when he greeted his teammates last month. back then he couldn't speak. he was breathing and eating through a tube. doctors say because of a gladiator like mentality he can swallow and repeated the last words spoken to him by his late grandfather. >> god has a plan. run, stafon, run. >> whether he ever plays football again, though, robin, it's not clear. when he asked about that, all he did was just shrug. >> it's amazing he was able to speak, like you said. because it must have damaged his voicebox so much. his larynx. thank you. a passenger plane hit a flock of birds right after takeoff this weekend. the frontier airlines jet him them about 4,000 feet above kansas city saturday. >> heard this rumble, bang, you know, bomb bomb. then saw kind of like a flash. and then you saw smoke.

and then, you know, we started decreasing in altitude. >> yikes. well, an airport spokesperson says the birds hit both engines, but one lost power. the plane landed safely. remember a bird strike forced another plane to land in the hudson river in january. the los vegas strippers who were dancing on a pole in a truck cruising around the strip for all to see, they stopped that act. there were a lot of complaints after a strip club started using the women as, well, live promotion as you can see. some local officials said they thought it was kind of tacky and might be dangerous, actually. the club owner says it was great for business. i bet it was. you're telling me it was too risque for vegas? >> it was tacky. >> we can't have strippers in boxes. what's going on? >> hi. >> let me show you the big weather pattern for you this

week. it's shaping up to be a heavy snow maker for northern kansas in towards nebraska. that's the upper level low. the surface low and the associated cold front, really cold fronts, are moving to the east very slowly. it's tapping into a lot of moisture. it's going to pull that moisture out of the gulf of mexico and throw it up in towards the upper midwest. it's going to be rain up there. it's going to be rain and snow mix when you get across the plains. texas a big line of thunderstorms now moving through houston stretching in towards basically louisiana and arkansas. the rain is really going to pick up later this afternoon. the yellow and orange shaded colors, that's about 2 to 3 inches of rain northern parts of missouri, that's going to stretch in forwartowards illino too. towards ksts can and nebraska, cold enough to produce snow. that snow is going to be heavy at times. here's your upper level low. rain and snow circulating counterclock wise around that. here's your snow. all in white. right around that state line with nebraska in towards kansas. get in towards manhattan, kansas, today, about 4 to 10 inches of snow a possibility. you are in a winter storm warning. those are areas shaded in red.

blue shaded areas 2 to 4 inches of snow. winds up and moves to your north tonight. weak front in toledo and fort wayne. most of the rain falls shy of chicago for the morning. later today a breakaway shower is a possibility. winds are going to be out there for you, chicago. it's going to move on in towards the rest of the region. flash flood watches and warnings. warnings shaded in green. all near st. louis because of the heavy rain. pacific northwest, here's a cold front. a lot of clouds wrapped up with that, too. rain, snow for the cascades in towards the olympics. be looking at that for later this morning. the mid-atlantic, the white house, pretty decent start. temperatures into the 60s today. should be pretty nice. the fall foliage still there, rob. even with all the wind they've had. hanging on tough. more on that in about a half hour. >> just depends on what kind of tree it is. did you know one of your fellow viewers in the morning is stephen king whose new book is

called "under the dome." he's stopped by to talk about that and a couple other things we asked him. "under the dome" it's called. it's set in maine. a tiny down. this bubble comes down. boom. people are locked inside. this becomes a problem how so on so many different levels. >> well, it becomes a problem because nobody can get in. nobody can get out. and so the food supplies that are there are the food supplies. there's no electricity. because when the dome comes down it cuts all the lines. the government cuts the phones. they do have some internet. and they have some tv. one of the things that i had fun with is there are a lot of news people in this. because an event like that would pull everybody off all their beats. and so i had a chance to put in all my cnn people. >> that's a fun thing to hear, too. i asked him do you think wolf blitzer is kind of scary? i asked him about rumors he was going to retire. the answer to the question in about 30 minutes. if you want to see the interview nits entirety, cnn.com/robin.

lately, selling a home has been a losing investment. your house might start earning you money again sooner than you thought. an affair with another man ended james mcgreevey's career as new jersey governor. he might have found a new calling as a man of the cloth?

time right now for our salute to the trips. wendy sent us a salute for her dad. he is retired. his daughter wants him to know how much they appreciate all he's done for them and the country. >> hi, robin. we want to leave a message for our dad, thanks him for being so brave in world war ii when he was captured at age 20. and we want to thank him for his contribution to all the freedoms we enjoy in this great country.

and we just want to tell him we are so proud of him and that we love him. >> great message. great vintage pictures, too. if you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them go to cnn.com/robin. the decision to try five of the 9/11 suspects in a civilian court in new york has created a heated debate. and the argument is clearly divided along party lines. correspondent richard lui, what are the two camps here? >> okay, yeah. two camps, democrats, republicans. we'll start with the democrats and what they are saying. they're backing up the president's decision saying the trial will show the world how effective and fair the u.s. judicial system is. but republicans say it will give undeserved rights to people like khalid shaikh mohammed, the alleged master mind behind 9/11. >> we shouldn't close guantanamo for the purposes of these type of terrorists. basically we're dealing here with people who committed acts of war against us. they shouldn't be tried in our criminal justice system, they should be tried in our military justice system.

it's inexcusable we're not using the military justice system to try these people. that's why we have such a system. >> if somebody murders americans and they murder americans in america, they ought to be prosecuted in america. and hopefully convicted in america. >> republicans say a civilian trial will also give these alleged terrorists the public platform that they do want, robin. >> aside from the political debate a civilian trial would also, i would think, have some security implications. >> right. rudy giuliani who was new york's mayor on 9/11 says holding the trial would cost too much and put unnecessary stress on the police force. >> anyone that tells you this doesn't create additional security problems, of course, isn't telling you the truth. the best indication of it is just look at the additional security that's going to be employed when this happens. that also happens to cause millions and millions and millions of dollars. all of which would be worth it if there was no other choice. >> critics also say a public trial would force prosecutors to

reveal some sensitive information about u.s. intelligence that al qaeda and other terrorist groups could potential use to their advantage. supporters counter that. dozens of terror suspects were prosecuted in civilian courts, robin, during the bush administration. >> thank you, richard. appreciate it. this just in. gm is saying that it will start paying back more than 6 million -- make that billion of your tax dollars by the end of the year. this is a live look right now at gm's announcement. and he must be listening to maybe some questions. the payback would be much earlier than expected. despite a recent upturn in sales, gm continues to struggle losing more than $1 billion since emerging from bankruptcy in july. reports that they were going to, and they are themselves confirming this. if you want to sell your home, next year might be the time. the national association of realtors says that the home prices are expected to rise about 4%. call that good news in a bad economy. the group says that the

extension of home buyer tax credit should continue to boost sales. the prices this year are projected to drop 13%. vegas casinos are -- the hotel casinos are offering big bargains trying to get you back to town. the vegas visitors bureau tells "usa today" that hotel rates are down almost 25% from a year ago. it says that hotels owned by station casinos, for example, you pay $125 for two nights but get $100 for foot and drinks. some rooms at the mirage are going for $86. $69 at treasure island. wow. too busy to drive to church and get all dressed up? well, logon to the internet? new for you in 30 minutes. how e worship is drawing believers.

funerals were held across the country saturday for some of the victims of the ft. hood shootings. one was held in san diego for captain john gaffaney. a former coworker remembered him as being very personable. >> i think john's gift was that, particularly when we were seeing veterans, he could talk the talk with them and had a way of working with those people in particular that really needed services. >> major nidal hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the ft. hood shootings. a marquee matchup between two of the nfl's biggest stars came down to a coach's now controversial call. >> of course, if he goes for it on fourth down, he is a genius. that is the ultimate controversy about whether to go for it on fourth down or not. first, the fire works.

literally. there were some in the game. after the colts scored, don't light fire works off in an indoor stadium. here's what got -- has people fuming. patriots fourth and two on their own 28 with two minutes left. they're up by six points. they go for it and they do not make it. that gives the ball back to indianapolis. peyton manning makes them pay. hits reggie wayne for the score. colts win a thriller. they are 9-0. chargers running back tomlinson cried tears of joy before he led san diego for a win over philly. he got to the stadium, found a little box from his wife in the locker room. he thought maybe a necklace. it was a pregnancy test. in it a stick that read positive. he and his wife have been trying to conceive for a while. she knew she was pregnant on tuesday but wanted to keep it a surprise. he went on and had his best game of the season. lastly, a little wackiness. at a memphis grizzlies game during a time out they bring out this poor young man. they say jump rope while you're

blindfolded and win something. you can see there's no rope. the joke's on this poor guy. >> he's got good form. >> he's jumping way high. after the buzzer he takes it off. then he realizes -- look at his reaction. he is mad. >> that is so not right. >> look at the people in the stands? they give him nothing! >> i don't know why they're not applauding for him. >> give him something! he waved them off. >> there was no prize? >> not for being humiliated in front of them and now hundreds of thousands of people on national tv. my apologies, but it's good video, sir. >> i bet they just lost a fan. seriously. here's bob. for our travelers on a monday morning where are the problem spots? >> so far pretty good. the one storm across the middle of the country around kansas. the rain out there around seattle or getting in towards st. louis, too. seattle rain heavy at times. that's a different system. here's what it looks like right around chicago. planes coming in, coming out of o'hare, midway, so far no problem. here's indiana. here's illinois. heaviest rain by far falls

around central and southern illinois in towards missouri. we're going to see problems because of that. delaywise, chicago an hour or more because of the wind. gusting to about 35 miles per hour. it's going to be out of the east-northeast. tough direction. new york city metros, dallas, 30 minute to one hour delays. gusty winds once again. houston and seattle looking at more wind. seattle, the rain heavy at times as well. 30 minute to one hour delays. scattered showers, brings in poor visibility at a low level. memphis, st. louis, same thing. kansas city showers, 30 minute to one hour delays. this is what i'm anticipating from later today. the space shuttle "atlantis" should be on its way to the international space station this afternoon. nasa plans to launch it from the kennedy space center about 2:30 or so. 100 shuttle fans will get to see it close up so they can tweet about it. they're expected to reach about 150,000 twitter followers. can i listen in right now? are they talking? filling time there at nasa? it's a live picture.

nothing. all right. new, new, new. that's a direct quote from secretary of state hillary clinton. the rumor she's putting to rest. y

the mother of a missing north carolina 5-year-old shaniya davis is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. we're showing the little girl's picture to help find her. people are starting to search again for shaniya this morning. police in fayetteville, north carolina, say a man seen with the child at a hotel admits taking her, but says he doesn't know where she is. six people were killed in a suicide attack at a police station. it is the sixth attack in this area of pakistan in about a week. taliban leaders claim responsibility for most of those. but they're denying being involved in some of the deadliest attacks. former new jersey governor

jim mcgreevey is training to become an episcopal priest in hoboken. remember his 2004 confession revealing his affair with a man? it ended his marriage and his political career. mcgreevey tells wcbs his spiritual journey is going -- those are some of our headlines. good morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. today federal officials will tour an illinois prison that could house dozens of detainees from guantanamo bay. thomson correctional center is about 150 miles west of chicago. the population is 600 people. correspondent richard lui joins us now. what do those 600 people think about this proposal. >> robin, they're thinking about things all folks across the country are. jobs. many in thomson are just worried about getting back to work. the prison there sat empty for five years because the state didn't have the resources to open it. it's still almost empty right now. but state officials say this plan could pump up to $1 billion into the area and create up to

2,000 jobs. >> they got this big expensive building sitting over there empty. or practically. put some people to work. that's what they need here. >> we need jobs in our area. very depressed. both economically and emotionally. people are looking for these jobs. >> robin, the village mayor there estimates the move would cut the county's unemployment by 50%. in half there. >> well, that's huge. especially for someone who's been living there and looking for a job. that would be a plus. what about security, though? >> there is concern there, too, robin. one republican congressman is circulating an opposition letter addressed to president obama. in it it says, quote, we should not invite al qaeda to make illinois its number one target, end quote. senator dick durbin, though, took issue with that pointing out that dozens of terrorists already in illinois prisons. >> there are currently 35 people serving in the prisons of illinois convicted of terrorism. we also have people who are part

of colombian drug gangs, mexican drug cartels, the toughest, meanest, dirtiest gangs in chicago. they're all in our prisons, and they're all held safely. >> the obama administration also saying it would enhance security at the prison in thomson to exceed super max standards. robin, no one by the way, has ever escaped from a super max facility so far. the fbi used equipment like ground penetrating radar at a house in cleveland where 11 bodies were found. that makes some think we could see more digging this week at anthony's sowell house and next door. the search has also expanded about four houses down. one woman says that her niece found something behind a boarded up house. >> they found bones about this long. they come running in the house bringing them in the house with their bare hands. look what we found. >> police aren't saying if they actually found anything. but anthony sowell's attorney

has not commented about the murder charges facing sowell. he's pleading not guilty on friday in an unrelated case. that investigation led police to the bodies. brand-new details about the alleged ft. hood shooter. a yemeni american cleric tells "the washington post" he did not pressure u.s. major hasan to hurt americans. he says he saw his growing comfort with the u.s. military in the e-mails they exchanged. hasan is accused of shooting and killing 13 people at ft. hood. he is still hospitalized. different views on abortion are rattling the health care reform debate. a white house aide suggests that president obama may not support a provision in the house bill that would change the restrictions for federal funding for abortions. >> well, the president has said repeatedly, and he said in his speech to congress, that he doesn't believe that this bill should change the status quo as it relates to the issue of abortion. this shouldn't be a debate about

abortion. and he's going to work with the senate and the house to try and ensure that at the end of the day the status quo is not changed. >> well, he refused to say whether president obama would veto a final health care bill that restricts abortion funding. house democrats were split on the controversial amendment. someone stole a military veteran's ashes. and it happened just before his funeral at arlington national cemetery. someone broke into the family's rental van and stole the urn containing the remains of the retired army colonel along with other items. >> you know, he died in august. and we've grieved, and we've cried, and we've hugged each other, and we've gotten together, and we've tried. he's 83 years old. we've worked our way through this a lot. and we're sad, but we were coming here excited to -- to just kind of review his life. he's had a very full life. and we were -- we were coming here for all of us to just say, wow.

think of all the great things daddy did. and, you know, it feels like he just died again. >> the family decided to hold the service anyway and is urging the burglars to return the urn. bruce springsteen just had a nightmare come true. he kept telling his audience this weekend in ohio, well, hello, ohio. and nothing. the problem was he was in michigan. he didn't even realize it until his guitarist came over and whispered something to him. then he looked embarrassed. the audience still got an almost three-hour concert out of him. i love that story. >> i thought they wrote down the town name on the back of their guitar so they could see it. >> i think that would be smart. >> yeah. as a jersey guy, it's kind of -- you know, ohio, michigan, they look the same. but they are different. >> but you couldn't pick two more rivaled states, right? >> oh, man. no wonder he met with crickets.

let me show you what's starting out on a monday morning. it's heavy rain. it's also a lot of snow, too. you're waking up to that around northover kansas city around the nebraska/kansas state line. the green is all rain. notice the cold front is all the way towards the gulf. let me show you how much rain over the next 48 hours. computer model generating this little graphic. actually wrote down where you're going to see the snow line and the rain line. we're going to be right around south of omaha stretching west of kansas city. on the west side of that line it's all snow, about 4 to 10 inches. on the right side, all rain. northern missouri, lower iowa, back towards illinois. 1 to 3 inches of rain there today, tonight and tomorrow morning. the biggest rain squall now out of houston. you can see houston itself drying out just a touch. down to your south see the scattered showers still out there. a line going in toward eastern

texas, too. look underneath the upper level low. that's all snow. all the white. it's beginning to get very close to lincoln, nebraska. omaha you should be all rain today. scattered showers. it's going to be breezy. a cold rain, too. temperatures in the upper 30s. winter storm warnings. all the areas shaded in red including manhattan, kansas. 4 to 10 inches of snow today, tonight. the rest of the area shaded in green-blue, 2 to 4 inches. rain stretches out towards toledo, in towards cleveland on the light side. heavier around central indiana. flash flood watches and warnings all around the area shaded in green. near st. louis, maybe an inch, inch and a half of rain today. rockies into the northwest, look at the cold front. a lot of clouds coming in. heavy rain. puget sound all the way down i-5 towards portland. a lot of snow in the higher elevations. winter storm warnings and wind warnings all along the coast. the red shaded counties, winds gusting easily to 60 miles per hour. full details coming up on that

in just about a half hour. some photographs appear to show americans abusing foreign detainees. but now one man is making sure that you don't see any more of those.

defense secretary robert gates has blocked the release of any new photos that appear to show americans abusing foreign detainees. the obama administration told the supreme court that gates is using his new powers provided by a law signed last month. the aclu sued to have some of the photos released. lower courts supported that. but gates says that the release would put u.s. citizens and service members in danger. all righty. this just in. retail sales rose more than

expected in october. the government reported a 1.4% increase thanks in part to a strong demand for cars. the increase followed a big drop of more than 2% the month before. it could be a sign of frugal fatigue. consumers may be eager to spend again after holding on to their money for so long. how much would you pay for a piece of bernie madoff? the mets jacket with his name just blazing across the back was auctioned off for more than $14,000. a jacket. 20 times what was expected. ruth madoff's diamond earrings, $70,000. here's one buyer explaining her fascination. >> it's like getting a plate of china from the "titanic." bernie madoff may have been an even bigger ship wreck. >> the auction brought in more than $900,000 for the victims of madoff's ponzi scheme. your gold jewelry is worth a little bit more this morning. while you were sleeping the price of gold hit another new

record. an ounce was trading for more than $1,130. then you have all these people advertising their gold par tis. you seen advertisements for those around your subdivision? >> yep. >> come, trade in your gold and you get money. >> apparently not enough if it's hitting that kind of a price, right? >> i don't think you could get $1,000 at the gold party. >> i don't think so. >> some people are like, hey, it's convenient. >> so far so good across the air right now. not looking at any delays. that's going to change. live to new york city, you want to see a nice beauty shot. look at central park, robin. how nice is that? >> so pretty. >> your temperatures today low 60s in the new york. winds stuff, 20 to 25 miles per hour out of the north. watch for some delays in the air around new york city. talking about jfk, laguardia, newark too and jersey. big time delays toward chicago a possibility. the reason why it's going to be gusty winds. winds to the tune of about 35 miles per hour there. then new york city metros again with wind but less than an hour

delay on top of the volume delays. you're looking at dallas with wind as well. about half hour to hour long delays there. seattle wind and rain. even snow across the higher elevations. we'll get to that coming up in about a half hour. a new book by stephen king called "under the dome" is one of the best selling books on amazon.com already. we asked him about the book and personal questions, too. he cleared up a rumor that comes back every now and then. so this book, this big, this acclaimed, already, by the way. i don't know how many days it's been number one on amazon and who knows elsewhere. i wonder if it's going to start the retirement rumors again? what say you? >> when i talked about retiring, i'd had this accident where a guy came along and hit me with his van and broke a lot of stuff on the right side of my body. and i was in a lot of pain. i was miserable a lot of the time. i thought, you know, this is just too much work. i can't do it. and then little by little, the miracle is we get better. if we don't die, we get better.

i started to get better. started to feel better. and i wanted to work again. so i enjoy what i do. >> there's no retirement coming any time soon. how do you feel by the way, lately? >> i feel terrific. >> good. see more of the interview at cnn.com/robin. when you hit the road this morning, take a look around you. you might notice something. there's an interesting police trend being reported in many places around the country. plus, it took 90 people two months to set up millions of dominos. what organizers did to make a new world record attempt even more interesting.

get this. many believers are worshipping god online. the growing popularity of e-worship is causing buzz for you on cnn.com. cyber church is convenient for parishioners who might be busy, sick or live far away from the physical church building. some followers say that it's just as meaningful as sitting in

the pews. but critics worry that virtual worship separates followers and keeps them from taking communion. this might give you a whole new perspective on the phrase domino effect. go ahead. >> five, four, three, two, one! >> it just gets better and better. so i'm going to talk really slow so you can see some of it. those people set up and knocked down more than 4 million dominos. this is in the netherlands on friday. look at all the things! it's a new world record. oh, wow! that was cool. to spice things up, organizers used pictures of different places around the world, including new york. wow! that's cool. it just disent grates. the new record beat the old one by more than 140,000 dominos. >> that was amazing. now, that is a record worth repeating. worth reporting.

>> you didn't like the record about the people in the bathing suits we did last week? >> people just think of crazy stuff. let's make a record. an nfl owner is caught on video making obscene gestures during his team's win. rafer, he didn't seem to care. >> no. he didn't. at all. because it'd be one thing if it just happened one time. no. this is titans owner bud adams, robin, known as one of the more colorful characters in the league. during the win over buffalo adams is seen giving the double one and two. this is caught -- a fan caught this on an iphone video making the jisture, posted it on ewe tube. this is an 86-year-old man. the nashville, tennessean says he was just chegesturing to the bench. he was sitting with roger goodell for part of the game. the matchup between tom brady and peyton manning was

overshadowed by this call. they were up by six with two minutes left. they don't get it. so that means the colts get the ball back. just an incredible decision, and peyton manning makes them pay. and they score, and makes them . the colts join the saints as the league's only unbeaten teams. it was the veteran against the rookie and the vet got the best. 40-year-old brett favre continues to shut critics' mouths. meanwhile, matt stafford was made to look like a rookie. he's going to be very sore today. the most hyped women's golfer in years lived up to the hype. michelle won. she signed a big deal with nike, it was like, oh, my gosh, she's too young to go pro.

she shed a few tears after the win. and it was literally lights out. the home depot center goes dark in the middle of the game. twice this happened. david beckham's team won. reports are there was a failure in the southern california power grid. you didn't like his hair much. >> i don't know what this is! it's sort of a mohawk. secretary of state hillary clinton says she would be happy to chat with sarah palin over a cup of coffee. clinton was responding to a passage in palin's new book where the former candidate wrote that if she and clinton ever met for coffee, they would disagree on many issues. somebody dumped a puppy on the side of the road because she

couldn't walk and now, she has had surgery and has a new family. >> look at that tail wag, stinker. >> just a little love bug. we'll tell you about her remarkable recovery.

i am so glad that you're with us today. yeah, monday morning. i'm robin meade and here's what's making the headlines today. there is a major development in the case of a missing 5-year-old girl. investigators now believe her mother has something to do with her disappearance. a college football player is speaking for the first time since his neck was crushed. and some real inspiration in the words he said. this plane hit some birds after takeoff. first though, the search is resuming for a missing

5-year-old north carolina girl. after police got a tip yesterday, her mother is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. we're showing the girls picture to help find her. the man seen carrying her into a hotel was turned in. he plans to plead not guilty. when that man turned himself in, police dropped kidnapping charges. he is the mother's boyfriend and says he was at home when the girl was taken. president obama's in beijing right now. part of his eight-day trip to asia. he met with hu jintao today. before that, he held a town hall meeting with college students in shanghai. >> these freedoms of expression and worship of access to information and political participati participation, we believe are universal rights. >> president obama will also visit china's great wall today. new this morning, a man's

body was found in a chicago river earlier today and local media reports that it's believed to be the chicago board of education president, michael scott. police would not confirm this. the medical examiner's office has not identified the body. they are facing controversy after an honor's student was beaten to death. price of prescription drugs has jumped. the industry has raised brand name prices by about 5%. they have said that they'll shave 8 billi$8 billion a year t passes. a college football player spoke for the first time since his neck was crushed in a weight lifting accident and wait till you hear what he had to say.

>> these were words that had special meaning to him. seven words was all he was able to get out and doctors say even doing that was a miracle. this is johnson greeting his teammates last month after dropping a weight bar on his throat, crushing his larynx. he repeated the last words spoken to him by his late grandfather. >> god has a plan. run, stafon, run. >> when he was asked that, he just shruged. >> what a message, what his grandfather said to him. the families of 9/11 victims are reacting to a big decision by the obama administration. the master mind and four other suspects will be try nd a courtroom just blocked from ground zero. it is igniting a fierce debate.

>> you bring it back here, to me, my feelings, it's tasteless, insensitive and those scars, which have never been healed, are just going to be open again. i am not comfortable with this call. >> new yorkers are certainly more than capable of handling it and i think again, it speaks to the very heart of who we are, not only as new yorkers, but as american citizens. you know, if a crime is committed on our soil, you are going to be given a trial. you will be given access to an attorney. >> meanwhile, will illinois be the new guantanamo? happening today, a government task force will visit a nearly empty prison in thompson, illinois. the town about two hours west of chicago could be the new home for suspected terrorists. more on that in about 25 minutes. the space shuttle should be on the way to the international

space station this afternoon. nasa plans to launch it from the kennedy space center at 12:28 eastern. 100 shuttle fans will get to see it up close. all right. so what's the weather going to be for them? bob will get there, but first, let's go to a place where they got on this side rain, on this side snow and in between is the problem part. >> it's northern kansas, lower nebraska. it's under the influence of a big area of low pressure that's really condensing out the rain and changing it over to snow. the white is snow and the green and blue is rain. little farther to the west, here's a live shot. look at the snow coming down. >> oh, wow. >> that's topeka, kansas right

now. having a tough time sticking on the roads, but that temperature will continue to drop. grand total for you, about two to five inches of snow. let me show you the rest of the region. here are the warned areas. includes manhattan, four to ten inches of snow here. the blue shaded areas, about two to four. it's going to be like that for most of the morning. and away from that, you have a cold front slamming into vancouver. all the way down i-5 in towards portland, it's rain. higher elevations, all snow. that's only one aspect. the other is the wind you're going to find across the northwest. winds blasting to about 60 miles per hour. all the red, those are wind advisories. that's about 40, maybe 50 miles per hour today.

looks like a tough go if you're getting to the pacific northwest. as for the space shuttle forecast, you have the clouds in there now, the winds not that great. hopefully they get it up. no rain in the forecast. i think just low clouds may be the only problem. more on that in about a half hour. your home could be the biggest investment you make and you might be surprised how soon it could pay off again. plus, an affair with another man ended his career as governor, but he may have found a new calling as a man of the cloth.

the decision to try five of the 9/11 suspects in new york

has created a heated debate. richard lui, what are the two camps here? >> democrats, republicans. what democrat rs saying is that they're backing up the president's decision, saying the private school will sh the world how fair the united states is. >> when we shouldn't close guantanamo for the purposes of these types of terrorists. we're dealing here with people who have committed acts of war against us. they should be tried in our military justice system. it's inexcusable we're not using it to try these people. >> if somebody murders americans and murder americans in america, they ought to be prosecuted in america and hopefully convicted in america.

>> they say a civilian trial will also give these terrorists the public platform they want. >> aside from the debate, it would also have some major security implications. >> ru >> anyone that tells you this doesn't create additional security problems suspeisn't te you the truth. just look at the additional security that's going to be employed. that happens to cause millions and millions of dollars, all of which would be worth it if there was no other choice. >> critics also say a public trial would force prosecutors to reveal sensitive information that al-qaeda and others could use to their advantage. dozens of terror suspects were prosecuted in courts during the bush administration. >> thank you, richard. time to salute our troops.

wendy sent a salute in for her dad. he is retired, but his daughter wants him to know how much they appreciate him. >> hi, robin, we want to leave a message for our dad thanking him for being so brave in world war ii when he was captured at age 20 and we want to thank him for his contribution to all the freedoms we enjoy in this great country. we are so proud of him and we love him. >> if you have somebody in the service, go to cnn.com/robin so we can salute them. paul mccartney is getting a huge honor. gm says it will pay back 6 million of your tax dollars by the end of this year.

they say their finances are improving and that the time is right to pay the loans back. >> we think it's important to show our commitment to the taxpayer that yes, in fact, we will begin to pay back this investment. >> well despite the payback, the government will continue to own a majority stake in the company. the value of your home may be dropping, but it could be a different story next year. the national association of realtors says home prices are expected to rise about 4% in 2010. the group says the extension of the home buyers tax credit should continue to boost sales and prices. this year though, prices will drop about 13%. how does a vegas vacation, hotel casinos are offering big bargains. the visitors bureau tells "usa today" rates are down from a

year ago. you can pay $125 for two nights and get $100 back for food and drinks. the coach of the patriots may have made one of the worst moves of his career. this morning, the call nobody seems to understand. and we're hear frg passengers on board a plane who flew into a flock of birds. flames shot from the engine and they started losing altitude.

a plane hit a flock of birds right after takeoff. the jet hit them at about 4,000

feet above kansas city saturday. >> heard this rumble, bang, boom, boom. then saw kind of like a flash. then smoke. we started decreasing in altitude. >> yikes. a spokeswoman says the birds hit both enjoins, but one lost power. the plane still landed safely. a bird strike forced another plane to land in the hudson river in january. a match-up between two of the nfl's biggest stars came down to a coach's controversial call. if you want to act like you know sports, this is one story you need to know about. >> when you go to work today, you're going to hear people saying, i can't believe he went for it. let's show you what happened. first, some fireworks after the colts scored, fire on the turf from fire works inside the dome

stadium. this is what people are fuming about. the patriots on fourth and two on their own 28, two minutes left and up 6, go for it and don't make it. that means change of possession. with peyton manning at the helm, that means touchdown. colts are 9-0 now. tomlinson cried tears of joy. he got to the stadium and found a box from his wife. thought it might be a necklace. in it, a pregnancy test stick that read positive. they've been trying to conceive for four years. then he went on to have the best game of the season. jimmie johnson is on the verge of making history. he is one race away from becoming the first driver ever to take the title. he's got to finish 25th or

better to win it all. i don't know whether to feel sorry for him or laugh at him. he had to jump rope blindfolded. >> that's so mean. >> everyone was laughing at him. as he takes off his blindfold, he realizes he's been had and he is mad. he is really mad. >> i don't blame him. he didn't get a prize or anything. >> nothing except for people in the stands laughing at him. >> nobody even cheered for him. i think they probably just lost a fan. >> as christian bale said, oh, good for you. jim mcgreevey is training to become an episcopal priest.

his affair with a man ended his marriage and political career. he says it would be inappropriate to comment about it now, but that a spiritual journey is going well. this might give you a new perspective on the phrase, domino effect. >> five, four, three, two, one. >> wow. and keep watching. the scenes are just incredible. those people had set up and knocked down more than 4 million dominos. isn't that incredible? this is in the netherlands on friday. a new world record. organizers used pictures of different places around the world. the new record beat the old one. bruce springsteen had a nightmare come true. he kept telling audiences, hello, ohio, and nothing.

the problem was he was in michigan. he didn't realize until his guitarist said, excuse me. then he looked very embarrassed. however, the audience got almost a three-hour concert out of it. i want to get away? >> picture him going up there, hey, bruce, bruce, we're in -- that's great. good morning to you. this update brought to you by orbitz. no delays to the weather except for houston. look at the rain across lower illinois in towards indiana. in chicago, so far, things are good, but it's going to go downhill because of the wind. about an hour or more at midway, o'hare. houston and seattle, gusty winds, too. then rain showers, st. louis,

memphis and kc. do you spank your kids or do you think it's wrong? one lawmaker is trying to make it illegal.

okay, the new york stock exchange just opened for business. the markets have been doing well the last couple of weeks and we're getting some hints they may keep going today. susan lisovicz will have that in a few seconds. the mother of a missing north carolina 5-year-old is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. now, we're showing the girl's picture to hopefully help find her. people are starting to search again for the girl this morning. police in fayetteville say that a man seen with the child in a motel admits taking her, but says he doesn't know where she

is. six people were killed in a suicide attack at a police station. taliban leaders claim responsibility for most of those, but they're denying being involved in some of the attacks against some of the deadliest attacks against civilians. the space shuttle is scheduled for launch in just a few hours. it's taking key parts needed to keep the space station going. nasa's going to have about 100 people watching the launch from florida and tweeting about it. those are the top stories. how are you on monday? i'm robin meade. today, federal officials will tour an illinois prison that could house dozens of detainees from guantanamo bay. thompson correctional center sat empty for five years because the state didn't have the resources to open it, but officials say this plan could pump up to a billion dollars in the area and create up to 2,000 jobs.

>> got this big, expensive building over there sitting empty or practically. put some people to work. that's what they need here. >> we need jobs in our area. very depressed. both economically and emotionally. people are looking for these jobs. >> some people are concerned about security though. a republican congressman is circulating a letter addressed to president obama and it says -- funerals were held across the country on saturday for some of the victims of the ft. hood shootings. one for john gaffeny. >> i think his gift, he could talk the talk with veterans and had a way of working with those people in particular, that really needed services.

>> major nidal hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the shootings. twitter is getting ready of their hand-picked list of suggested users. this comes after political watchdogs in california criticized the list. twitter says it plans on a more systematic way to introduce popular posters. different views about abortion are rattling the health care debate. it is suggested that president obama may not support a provision in the house bill that would change the restrictions for federal funding for abortions. >> the president has said repeatedly that he doesn't believe that this bill should change the status quo as it related to the issue of abortion. he's going to work with the senate and the house to try and

ensure that at the end of the day, the status quo is not changed. >> he refused to say with the president obama would veto a final bill that restricts abortion funding. house dems were split. are you seeing fewer cops on the road? a new report says that the number of highway patrol officers is down in a number of states. for example, oregon's police force was cut by more than 30% from 1995. the budget cuts are forcing them to cut patrols. a dog so disabled that moved on its wrist has been adopted. a georgia veterinarian operated on spirit and gave her months of therapy after somebody dumped her on the side of the road. her new owner says she's doing fine. >> i don't want people to feel

pity. what i want people to feel is look what can happen to a dog that somebody thought was useless. she's definitely not useless anymore. she's beautiful. >> she sure is. spirit still has some discomfort, but it does not stop her from playing. >> what a pretty dog. wow. 35 minutes past the hour. okay. so today, bob is starting with some rain, but he does have snow to talk about. >> we have a lot of rain coming in off the gulf of mexico, but then it switches over to snow for areas around towards kansas and nebraska. i want to show you the cold front. it's around conway, stretching back into central texas. it's looking pretty nice when it comes to the rain stretching throughout the region. let me show you how much rain we're counting on basically over the next 48 hours. heavy rain, most falling across central parts of missouri.

that's one to three inches in yellow. also, notice that white line. it's the rain/snow line. lower parts of nebraska, upper parts of kansas, it's going to be heavy starting this morning into the afternoon. back to the radar, you can see northern parts of louisiana, rain is out there that stretches back up toward it is north. here's your snow, it's near that upper level low. as the colder air gets toward the surface, it changes everything to snow. nebraska, kansas state line, that's where the heavy stuff is. but the winter storm warnings are basically south of nebraska. about four to ten inches of snow for the areas in red. then away from there, pacific northwest, look at the cold front dropping across oregon and washington state. all snow when you get above the highest elevations with rain in the valleys. wind is another deal. what about the southeast? towards atlanta and florida,

it's going to be warm. 75 degrees the high for atlanta today. that is in the warm sector of the nation. that is the warmest spot for the entire country, the deep southeast. >> pretty. thank you. stocks are coming off two straight weeks of gains, so are we keeping up the rally? stephanie elam's over at the new york stock exchange. good morning. looks like so far. >> the rally is continuing this morning. the big focus this week is on the american consumer. a new reading on retail sales shows a much better than expected jump last month. meanwhile, general motors released its first report card since emerging from bankruptcy. gm's also going to start repaying the government bailout money next month. and a new census study shows small, u.s. cities are losing their luster in the recession.

this says mobile families speaking wholesome neighborhoods opted instead to settle down in more popular areas. you can probably relate to this better than me since you live in atlanta and i live in new york. but some of this may have to do with spiking gas prices. >> yeah. right. the highways look so good when the realtors take you out at like 1:00 in the afternoon. thank you. you're not going to believe how much people were willing to spend to get a piece of history, even if it did have bernie madoff's name on it.

the bernie madoff auction

brought in thousands. the jacket with his name sold for more than $14,000. 20 times more than what they expected. one buyer explained her fascination. >> it's like getting a plate of china from the titanic and bernie madoff may have been an even bigger ship wreck. >> just about everything's up for auction sold for far more than expected. the las vegas strippers dancing on the pole in a truck cruising down the street have stopped their act. they were a lot of come plapts after they started using the promotion. the club owner says it was great for business. i bet it was. you've probably seen this at the pharmacy. rising drug prices. richard's working on that. hi, richard. >> pharmaceutical companies are

expected to add more than $10 billion this year. that means maybe about 10% more for you. now why drug companies say they have no choice but to keep charging more. then, why general motors says it will pay back millions of your taxpayer bucks. and then, imagine that. the government says you've got to move out of your house and we're not going to do anything with it. we'll tell you what city that's happening in. >> thank you very much. if you're a homeowner in financial trouble, you may be able to save your home and credit, but you have to act quickly. clark howard tells you how. >> i get a lot of questions from people wanting to know if they negotiate a deal with their mortgage lender, how's that's going to affect their credit scoring and credit standing.

the three major credit bureaus put out a report that says if you just negotiate a new payment plan with your lender, that the effect on your credit score is very small. almost meaningless. but what if you say, i give up, and you negotiate a short sale. the effect on your credit score, getting up there. you lose over 100 points. let's say instead you just say, i give up, here are the keys and allow yourself to be foreclosed on. the effect is a little worse than a short sale. but if you really want to blow up your credit, you file for bankruptcy because then, it will drop your credit score, you're not going to believe this, but over 300 points. it's better to stay and try to work something out. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to be smart with your wallet, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> catch him at noon eastern on

saturdays and sundays. the fbi used equipment like ground penetrating radar at the house in cleveland where 11 bodies were found. we could see more digging this week at anthony sowell's house, but the search has expanded now to about four houses down. one woman says her niece found something behind a boarded up house. >> they found bones about this long. they come running in the house bringing them in the house with their bare hands, come up, look what we found. >> police aren't saying yet if they actually found anything, but anthony sowell's attorney has not commented about the murder charges he's facing. he pleaded not guilty on friday. paul mccartney is expected to xwet a big honor today. "the washington post" reports he will be the third winner for

prize for popular song. there are plans for an all-star concert featuring mccartney, but we don't know who the stars will be. the tennessee titans' win over the buffalo bills wasn't enough for the owner. we'll show you the double barrelled salute he gave the bills for all to see.

a new book by steven king is one of the best sells books on amazon.com. he dropped by the show, he watches it along with you, and we had the chance to ask him a few personal questions. >> i can think of a lot of questions i'd like to never be asked again. one is what were you like as a child because everybody has the idea that somehow you were pretty twisted. >> you were a creepy kid. >> but i like it when people talk about the writing, language and theme about stuff like that and a lot of times, they don't. >> if you can't wait to see the entire interview, you can watch

it now at cnn.com/robin. an nfl owner was caught on video for making an obscene gusture. i don't know that he meant to be secretive about it. ld he is with this. let's just say that bud adams is known as one of the more colorful characters in the lead. he's seen giving the bird, once, twice, and then, the double salute. now, a fan caught this on i-phone video and posted it on youtube. this is a sensitive bunch and this is a family show. this is an 86-year-old man doing this. he said he was gusturing to the bill's bench and, get this, was sitting with roger goodell for part of the game. the players are standing by their owner. one even called him cool. the match-up between brady

and manning was overshadowed by this. they were up by 6 with two minutes left and don't make it. that means it's a change of possession. indianapolis gets the ball and with 13 seconds left, manning makes them pay, so they join the saints as the only unbeaten teams in the nfl. it was the vet against the rookie and the vet got the best. respect your elders, son. 40-year-old brett favre continues to shut critic's mouths, including mine. matthew stafford, who is about half of brett favre's age, he was three in favre played in his first game, is going to be sore today. and the most hyped golfer in years has won her first p pro tournament of our career. she signed a big endorsement deal with nike right before her 16th birthday.

when she won, she shed some tears and her twitter page went crazy. lastly, the l.a. galaxy talking on houston. it was lights on, literally. the lights went out at you don't like it? >> no. looks like half of a haircut and half not. >> it's a foe-hawk. i think that's what the kids call us. twitter us. are we on twitter. >> no! >> let's show you what's going on this weekend.

low clouds and par visibility. both probably see an hour or more delay because of the wind. north city metro, gusty wind. seattle not only wind but rain and snow mixed in. we'll have snow mixed in, in about a half hour. >> thanks. the charity organizations will probably get fewer donations this holiday season. there's a survey out. 38% organization says they are more likely to give a charitable gift compared to 49% last year. most people say they will donate more when the economy does get better. more people need their help but fewer are coming in. the ashes of a slet ran are stolen before he was buried and his family had a big decision to make.